The North East Catchment Management Authority (North East CMA) is seeking quotations from suitably qualified organisation or individuals (the Consultant) to update the environmental flow recommendations for the Lower Ovens System (in channel system) and develop environmental flow recommendations for the Lower Ovens floodplain wetland complex. This should be completed using the most recent FLOWS method (DEPI, 2013) as the basis for this work, however the North East CMA are open to novel approaches to developing environmental flow objectives and recommendations that consider a changing climate and future water availability.

The project area includes the Buffalo River below Lake Buffalo, the King River below Lake William Hovell, the Ovens River from the confluence of the Buffalo River to the Murray (as per previous flow studies) and the Lower Ovens floodplain and wetland complex from Killawarra, downstream of Wangaratta, to the Murray River (not included in past flows assessments). The study area will be referred to as the ‘Lower Ovens System’ for this project.

This work should develop ‘climate ready’ environmental flow recommendations, defined as those achievable under changing climate and water availability. Currently, many of the water dependant environmental values in the Lower Ovens System are reliant on a flow regime largely comprised of unregulated water, ie above the Murray-Darling Basin Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) and licences that are currently underutilised, often referred to as ‘sleeper licences.’ Climate and streamflow predictions that would result in less run-off combined with a greater uptake of existing surface water licences, and new groundwater licences where the Murray Darling Basin SDL is not at capacity, may result in the Lower Ovens System experiencing an increased risk of environmental degradation.